Voting

2:00 pm

Mon November 5, 2012

How Facebook Got People To The Polls On Sunday

People in Doral wait in a long line to vote in an impromptu voting location Sunday.

Credit Ashley Lopez / WLRN

It was a last minute announcement made by Miami Dade Elections Officials, but somehow hundreds of voters showed up to vote this Sunday.

According to voters lined up that day, they have Facebook to thank for finding out about that impromptu voting day.

Last year, state lawmakers cut down early voting days and controversially eliminated the Sunday before Election Day.

However, early Sunday morning, Miami Dade Elections Supervisor Penelope Townsley sent around a press release notifying campaigns and news outlets that Dade residents would be able to cast absentee ballots in person at the Supervisor's Doral office from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Officials weren't expecting a lot of people, at first, because it was short notice, but voters say social media notified them of the change also immediately.

Listen

Listening...

/

0:07

Collette Morris says Facebook got her to the polls.

Collette Morris says that if it wasn’t for Facebook, she wouldn’t have known about the announcement.

"My old professor posted it on Facebook that they were opening it up, and she was like 'go run!' So, here I am," she says as she stood in a 3 hour long line.

Listen

Listening...

/

Rene Morales says he found out about voting in Doral through a friend via social media.

That was same story for Rene Morales, who was also standing in line to vote.

"Someone posted it on Facebook, actually, that they were extending hours today," he says. "I figured Tuesday it was going to be pretty crazy, but it's pretty crazy today. So, I am not sure this is going to be better than Tuesday. We will see."